Released July 23, 1986 Recorded 1986 | Format CD single, 7" Genre Glam metal, hard rock | |
B-side "Raise Your Hands" (US)
"Let It Rock" (UK) Length 3:42 (album version)
4:06 (full version) | ||
"You Give Love a Bad Name" is a song by American rock band Bon Jovi, released as the first single from their 1986 album Slippery When Wet. Written by Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, and Desmond Child about a woman who has jilted her lover, the song reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on November 29, 1986 and became the band's first number one hit. In 2007, the song reentered the charts at No. 29 after Blake Lewis performed it on American Idol. In 2009 it was named the 20th greatest hard rock song of all time by VH1. Despite the lyrics of the chorus, the song should not be confused with "Shot Through the Heart", an unrelated song from Bon Jovi's 1984 self-titled debut album.
Contents
Composition
"You Give Love a Bad Name" was originally written for Bonnie Tyler under the title "If You Were a Woman (And I Was a Man)" with different lyrics. Dissatisfied with its success in the US and the UK, Desmond Child re-wrote the song with Jon Bon Jovi and Richie Sambora.
The song was written with several catchy repeated lines and associated hooks to appeal to mainstream audiences including the chorus as well as several bridges.
This song is written in the key of C minor and has a tempo of 123 BPM.
The album version of the song ends with the title being repeated until it fades.
Music video
The music video for the song used all-color concert footage (the only all-color video song from Slippery When Wet) and photogenic shots primarily of Jon Bon Jovi, as well as other band members in concert. This video was filmed at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California.
Bon Jovi was now being managed by Doc McGee, who realized that Bon Jovi needed a video for MTV. Doc hired video director Wayne Isham, who had directed videos for Doc's other band, Mötley Crüe. The two bands were competitive with each other and Mötley Crüe felt betrayed that Wayne would direct one of Bon Jovi's videos.
Wayne had the band's name painted on the stage and made sure that the band did not see it until they began shooting.
Bon Jovi had been opening for 38 Special, but became a headlining act after the video debuted.
Other notable versions
In pop culture
Ranked Number 20 in VH1's "100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs".
The song was made playable in the music rhythm video games, GuitarFreaks 6th Mix/Drummania 5th Mix, as well as Lego Rock Band, Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades, and Guitar Hero 5. The Guitar Hero version retains the original studio ending with no fade out, with a song length of 4:07. In Guitar Hero, Jon stopped singing and the band continues singing was actually from the original version as the song has crossfaded to "Livin' on a Prayer". The version features an ending solo.
The song was reworked and made available to download on November 9, 2010 for use in the Rock Band 3 music gaming platform in both Basic rhythm, and notably PRO mode which takes advantage of the addition of a real guitar / bass guitar, and use of standard MIDI-compatible electronic drum kits / keyboards in addition to three-part vocal harmonies or backup vocals. The ending features an a cappella chorus section like how the band usually ends the song in live performances.
Dwight Schrute plays this song in The Office on a recorder.
In the How I Met Your Mother episode "The Limo", Barney Stinson plays this song as part of his Get Psyched Mix and can also be seen on his blog.
"You Give Love a Bad Name" appeared in The Sopranos episode "A Hit is a Hit".
The song was used as background music in the Fall/Winter 2006 Christian Dior goth-metal-rock-themed ready-to-wear fashion show.
In an issue of Thunderbolts, Deadpool starts singing the song after literally being "shot through the heart" by Black Widow.
The song was featured in the Youth in Revolt trailer.
The song, with a Bon Jovi live concert video, were reused in Nissin Cup Noodles TV commercials in Japan, with reworked lyrics in Japanese.
KickBend evokes the "angel's smile" lyric in their song "Gone'" from the album faith.hope.love (2009).
The song also features at the beginning of the Series Four finale episode of The Vampire Diaries titled "Graduation"
A part of the song is used in the Hellsing Abridged series episode 1
Professional wrestler Jigsaw used the song early in his career while working for Chikara Pro.
The song was covered by rival show choir Vocal Adrenaline (with lead vocals provided by actor-singer Max George, as his character Clint) on the FOX television series Glee, in the season six episode "Transitioning".